The adventure comes to an end!

March 29 – Thursday – Cloudy and cool this morning. Slowly we are getting things ready for our trip back home. Lisa has the bags out, and is putting things away, we start to clean up around here, I go through all the papers in things I have collected from here, it’s trash day so I get the trash tub out by the road. We take time for coffee in town at Patsy’s, but Lisa stops by the Baker to get his scone recipe. I bring Victoria her wireless router back, it never did work up here. Lunch is leftovers and cheese sandwiches. After lunch I call the electric company to get a idea of our electrical costs, very expensive over here! If I got it right, about 50 euro per week! Whew! I decide to update my blog and put up a few more pictures and check email, so it’s down to the I-café again. Should be the last time until we get home. A little nap before we have salad for supper, and we head to An Seanachai to listen to Liam O’ for the last time.

Not many people there at first, but it fills up a bit for a Thursday. Of course a lot of the crowd is American. Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Michigan are here tonight, and Liam does a great job working the crowd. He even dedicates a song to us, “Lisa and Liam who’ve become good friends over the last month”, and then “I want to tell Lisa and Liam that I won’t sing that song again until we meet again, whether it be here or in the states”. The song was “Old Man and Children”, very nice. We had a nice visit with him after the show, hugs and goodbyes all around, and made it home about 12:15.

March 30 – Friday – Sunny but cold today, the wind goes right through you. Head to town just after 10:30, trying to meet Victoria and settle our electric bill. She’s not there, so after a quick coffee at the bakery, we find out the Harbor Cruise is sailing at 12:00 today, so we make a quick trip back to the house for my camera and head to the harbor. The ship is the Spirit of Kinsale, maybe a forty footer, with a upper deck for us to sit on. The trip takes about an hour, and takes us all around the harbor as far out as Charles Fort, and south to the R600 bridge. I take a lot of pictures, and even get a couple shots of Victoria’s house. I show them to her after we get back and she would like me to send her some copies. The cruise was calm, but it was quite cold, the wind just enough to chill you, but there are blankets on board, so it’s bearable. The captain does a good job explaining most of what you see around the harbor, even if it is on tape, and we enjoy the cruise. Lunch finds us at the Armada, seafood chowder for me and a cheese board for Lisa. Back home, I down load the pictures, update my journal and take a short nap before supper. Peter Murphy stops by about 8:00 and we have a nice visit.

He fills me in on the history of the Rampart Lodge, as he was the owner that sold it to Bruce Roberts about 18 months ago. The house was built 167 years ago by shipbuilders in the area, they could tell it was shipbuilders as the damp course contained pitch, which was used between the layers of the ships in those days. The first record on deed was 1894, and the house was purchased for 3 nuns to live in while they built the Convent across the road. After the lodging was built for the nuns, the groundskeeper lived here, until the 1960’s at which time it was converted into a office. When Peter bought it, it had been in disuse for quite some time, and needed to be stripped to the walls and redone. The floors were 1 ½ thick California redwood, but they had rotted to the point they couldn’t be restored. It is 8 meters square, with four rooms, and contained a giant chimney with a fireplace in each room. The chimney was removed, and a false chimney installed on the roof, with half the roof slates needing replacing also. About 3000 used slates were found, to match they had to be Donegal Blue slates.

The four walls were stripped down to the limestone blocks, and the limestone plaster replaced. You can’t put cement on limestone as the stone needs to breathe, allows the moisture to escape the house. The walls in the house are just over 2 feet thick. All the windows needed replacing, and Peter bought new window sashes from a New England company, said they got here in 3 weeks, which was remarkable as the Irish companies were much more expensive, and wanted 14 – 24 weeks for delivery. The doors in the house came from Peter’s sister, who had taken them from her house in England and had them in storage. They are 1 ½ thick pine. Peter relished telling us about the place, and we found it quite interesting.

After Peter left, we walked down to the Swell to listen to the “Sons Of Steve McQueen”, a four piece 70’s and 80’s rock band. They are quite loud, so after a quick drink, we wander over to the An Seanachai to listen to Peter Returns, and after one drink here we call it a night.

March 31 – Saturday – Our last full day in Kinsale. Partly cloudy, still a bit breezy, but should be warmer than yesterday, in the low 50’s hopefully. Most of today will be taken up by packing and cleaning. We have to get ready for our drive to Shannon tomorrow. We did walk to town to check email, and I had to order my next prescription so they will arrive at the house next week. While we were there we stopped at Harte’s pharmacy and got Sue to go to coffee with us. We went to the reopened bistro on Main St, nice little place and it’s the first time we had been there. Back to the house afterwards so we could have lunch, called the kids, and I call to get our phones reactivated when we get home. Spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning, the house is back to the condition we found it in. We will eat in town tonight and for breakfast tomorrow so as not to dirty anything until we leave. We are almost ready to go.

Supper is at Le Bistro, a little expensive, but very good. I had the shank of lamb with potato and veggies, very good. Lisa had the goat cheese salad, also very good. After supper we head for the Vista, we want to listen to the boys there one more time. Then it’s off to Muddy’s to listen to a blues band that John is brought in. They are a local bunch, but quite good, and they draw a good crowd. John finds out it is our last night and buys us a drink, quite the host. We sit next to a Irish couple from the Clonmel area who is here for the weekend. They are so enamored with the area they are thinking of moving down here. We have a great time listening to the music and talking. One last stop to make, and we go to the Lord Kinsale to see Owen. I saved all my pennies, nickels and dimes throughout the trip, and give Owen 9 euro in change for our drinks, he takes the change as payment, grousing the whole time of course. At midnight we say our last goodbyes and head for home. It’s been a great trip!

April 1 – Sunday – Up early, a quick shower and down to Mother Hubbard’s for breakfast. Pick up a paper on the way back to the house, load the car, make sure everything in the house is ok and that we have everything and off we go. We have to make a stop at the market across the street from the Bunratty Castle, Mom had called and wants a coffee cup from Ireland so I need to pick one up. Lunch is at the Creamery, we sat at the same table that we were at last time we were there. We have a pint at Durty Nellie’s, can’t break tradition, we have had a pint there every trip so far. Drop the luggage off at the hotel, bring the car back to Budget, and supper is at the hotel bar. We walk over to the airport to look around, I thought I had read on the internet that you could shop duty free and they would hold it for you until you left, but it didn’t look like they would let us through, so we just picked up a ¼ bottle of wine and a can of Smithwick’s and head back to the room for the night.

April 2 – Monday – Up about 8:00, leisurely shower, load up the luggage on one of those airport carts, and make our way to the check in counter. We are quite early, the plane doesn’t leave until 12:30, and I ask the girl behind the counter for exit row seats. She tells me the plane is full, all the seats are assigned, but then asks me how tall I am, when I say 6’1” she makes room for us in row 12 next to the exit! Lots of leg room! It sure made the trip home much more enjoyable. Breakfast is in the airport café, and when it’s done we do a little duty free shopping. Lisa picks up a few chocolates and candies, especially for the grand kids, and I get some Powers 12 Year Old whiskey. The clerks in the duty free were sampling a new Irish Whiskey called The Irishman is I remember right. There was a blend along with a 12 year old single malt, both tasted good, but I get the Powers instead, and drag myself out of there before I go crazy and buy a bunch more.

The plane was on time, and we made good time coming over, landed at O’Hare a ½ early. Had a pizza at Wolfgang Puck’s for supper, and waited around until our flight to Grand Rapids took off. Brandie, Bradley and Nicole are waiting for us as we arrive at 11:30, they brought my truck down so I can load it up and take us home. We get home about 12:30, very tired, but happy to be here. The adventure is over, it was grand, one of those “happy to have gone, and happy to be home” situations.

There is only one word for the last six weeks - “BRILLIANT”

We start our last week in Kinsale

March 23 – Friday – Sunny again as we get up. Easy day today, catching up on laundry, spending a bit of time on my blog, pictures, journal, etc. Make my way to the I-café to check email and update my blog and pictures, might be the last time until I get home as we don’t have much else planned now. We try the Shack for supper tonight, and really enjoyed the meal and atmosphere. It is on Main St, just opened for the season. I had the “Catch of the Day” which was haddock on creamed potatoes, and Lisa had the Chilli Chicken on Penne Pasta. Both were delicious! And reasonably priced, about 12 euro each. After supper we made our way to Muddy’s to listen to the new group that John had playing there called The Gavin Ryan Band. Basically just a bar band, not what we cared for, so we tried the Banjo Twins at the White House. More to our style, a banjo and a bouzouki with both on vocals, playing traditional Irish but at a breakneck speed. We stayed for a bit, then called it a night.

March 24 – Saturday – Our luck continues, wake up to sunny skies again. Some clouds floating around, but mostly sunny, and temps in the low 50s. We take a walk over to Scilly this morning, investigating the Man Friday and Spinnaker restaurants. They don’t open til later in the day, we might stop at one next week. Pick up a few groceries on the way back to the house for lunch. Lazy afternoon, I think Lisa is coming down with my cold. After a supper of Nachos, I drove us to the Bulman to listen to the group playing there. Billed as Bobby Lee, the quartet played some originals, along with classic rock covers. Now this is what I call good music! Really enjoyed listening to the group, probably the best band we have heard here yet. They said they are in the process of making a CD, so I will have to check out the website when I get a chance, www.bobbyleemusic.com.

Took Lisa home just after midnight, the cold is wearing her down, I stayed up and watched the Podge and Rodge show. To imagine this show, think of the Tonight show without Jay Leno, the hosts are two puppets instead! They occasionally use the F word, and there was a segment called “Sham Rock” that featured “AC DShe”, a 4 piece female rock band. They have also had “The Red Hot Chili Peckers” on the show. Some really weird late night stuff around here!

March 25 – Sunday – Mostly cloudy, the breeze is cool today, I’m up about 8:00, bowl of cereal and a shower and I go to get the Sunday paper. After Lisa gets up and around, we take a little walk. Lunch today finds us at the Spinnaker, it’s in Scilly, usually open at 5, but on Sundays it opens at 2 for lunch. I had the Oak Smoked Salmon plate, Lisa just a salad and veggies. Took our time walking home, I even picked up a “99”, a ice cream cone with a “flake” in it. Flake being a flaky chocolate stick. Over to the Spaniard tonight, they have listed “Skellig” in the guide for music at 7:00. When we get there, everything is already rolling, and when I ask later, I find out that daylight savings time began today! Now I know why everything seemed just a little off today, we have been an hour late for everything!

There are 5 musicians playing here tonight on banjos, guitars, flutes and a bodhran. The place is jammed, we have to stand in the doorway to listen, but when the bodhran player passes us on the way out for a smoke, Lisa asks him about the tipper he is using, he asks if she plays and lets her sit in on a couple songs. Of course, that put her in seventh heaven! She did great, keeping up with the group and amazing a few listeners as well. Great craic! They called it a night about 9:00, so we walked back to the Lord Kinsale to listen to the music there. Sat next to Margaret and Sam again, (yes we found out there names tonight, Margaret is Irish, Sam is Scottish), and had a nice finish to the night with some singing and more of what I call “Irish Karaoke”. The performer invites any and all to come to the mic and sing anything they want to. Makes for some interesting songs. Call it a night about 11:00.

March 26 – Monday – Bright and sunny again this morning. Quick breakfast and we are off to Cork to visit the Cork City Gaol. An impressive exhibit, the gaol hasn’t been used since 1923, it shows life in Cork in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. As bad as it was in the gaol (jail) people would commit crimes to get in just to get a meal and a bed as Cork was full of poverty at the time. We spend the afternoon wandering Oliver Plunkett and St Patrick streets, buy some items at the English Market, and head home for supper.

We try the New World Chinese restaurant tonight, ends up being another one that I can highly recommend! Lisa had the vegetable fried rice, I had the Lamb in mushroom and black bean sauce. Both were excellent, and the price wasn’t too bad, in the 10-12 euro range for most menu items. We walked to the Spaniard to listen to Michael and Jimmy, met a nice couple from Denver that are over here to see his family. He emigrated to the states about 20 years ago, but before he did, he was involved in the music scene as an electrician-soundman. He talked about doing sound for the Furey Brothers among others. Now he is a Harley riding, bagpipe playing electrician in Denver. We left early as we had told Sam and Margaret that we would meet them at the Lord Kinsale tonight.

It will be the last time we can see them, they are leaving midweek for holiday, and we are leaving at the end of the week. Kevin was playing again, he brought up the locals again for more “Irish Karaoke”, Lisa and Margaret danced a couple songs, and we had a little more excitement than we wanted when one of the local girls came in bombed out of her head. She was singing along with everyone, you couldn’t understand her at all, and she fell on the table next to us knocking it over, and later fell off a bar stool. This is not something we have seen very much of though, an occasional drunk walking the street late at night. The “distraction” not withstanding, we had a great time there tonight. Said our goodbyes and was home about midnight.

March 27 – Tuesday – I actually slept in til 8:30! Wow! We headed out to the Farmers Market this morning, will be our last chance to see it. The weather is perfect for it, a little cool, but nice and sunny. Have one more coffee from the Cork Coffee Roasters, pick up a few things to try, even have a strawberry crepe for lunch. The market is one of those little things around here that I will really miss. This afternoon looks promising for a round of golf, so I call the Kinsale Golf Club about openings.

I am told the tee box is open after 12:00, so we drive over there. At the club house we find out that denim jeans are not allowed, so after a quick trip back home, we find ourselves on the #1 tee enjoying the finest weather that Ireland can provide this time of year! 60 degrees, sunny, calm an on a golf course, you can’t ask for more! We had a great afternoon.

After a supper of pizza, I make my way down to Oscar Madison’s for a pint. Owen has the night off and plans on throwing darts with a mate, and invited me to join them. Had a lot of fun, once in a while I lose some of the conversation in the Cork accent, and Owen beats his mate 4 games to 3. At 11:00 we walk next door to the Lord Kinsale for last call, and Sam and Margaret are there, having meet their two sons for a bit before they all fly off for their holidays. Noreen was bartender, she can be a bit brash, but she’s really nice. At the end of the night, what I find out is the owner walks in. She talks to Sam and Margaret, but not much to Owen or Noreen, I don’t think they are very fond of their boss. Goodbyes are said all around as I leave, maybe for the last time, and I head home about 12:45.

March 28 – Wednesday – It’s 9:30 before I roll out this morning. Very overcast, the breeze has picked up, suppose to bring a storm in today. Down at the Kinsale Brewing Co, I pick up a poster of the “Pubs of Kinsale”. A couple of them on the poster are no longer here, but we have seen most of them. After lunch it is still dry and partly sunny so we go for a walk, finding the Kinsale Cemetery, some of the headstones date to the 1800’s. Nice afternoon for a stroll. Pizza for supper, and at 7:00 I turn on the Ireland vs. Slovakia soccer match. It’s a Euro 2008 qualifier, and Ireland wins 1-0, at the half we drive to the Bulman, I get to watch the end of the game and when it’s done, the folk-bluegrass session begins. We enjoy the music for an hour or so before it’s time to get Lisa home to bed, she’s still a little tired because of her cold. Home about midnight, Lisa goes to bed and I watch a bad movie on TV for a while before calling it a night.

Our trip to the Castle Townsend

March 19 – Monday – The sun is out this morning, although it is very cold. They are calling for sleet and hail later on today. Most of the day is spent taking it easy, my sinuses are still acting up, we do a bit of grocery shopping, I update my photos and blog, Lisa does some laundry getting ready for our side trip to the castle. We do go down to Muddy’s after dinner though, Lisa wants to listen to the group that is playing, someone we haven’t heard before, a group called “Poles Apart”. Ends up being a five piece jazz band from Poland, therefore the name. The music is great! Talking to John the owner, he said they came down from Cork last year wanting to play, he hired them on spec for one night, and they have been coming down regularly since then. I can see why, they are good and have a great selection of tunes. We leave before they are done, about 11, so I can get some sleep.

March 20 – Tuesday – Today we drive to the castle. 9:15 finds us on the road, the weather cooperates, sunny even if it is cold. We take the R600 to Clonakilty where we start following a “By-Ways rather than Highways” article from a Ireland of the Welcomes magazine. These are great for telling you about places you wouldn’t normally see. It is basically a coastal route to Skibbereen through places with names like Ardfield, Red Strand, and Galley Head. Got some great pictures along the way, including the beach at the aforementioned Red Strand. The article also told us about a one lane track to take back to the Drombeg Stone Circle. A rather small stone circle, but one of the finest of it’s kind. At midwinter a line drawn between the two tallest stones points to the setting sun. The drive took us back to N71 at Leap where we stopped at a wonderful little coffee shop called the Horseshoe Café, that would feel at home in any big city in the States. Back on the road, I saw a sign for Castletownsend so I drove to the castle.

Arrived early but our wonderful host Anne was more than happy to show us to our room. After a brief look around we drove on to Skibbereen, had lunch at Annie May’s pub and made our way to the Skibbereen Heritage Center. It has two displays there, one on the Great Famine, Skibbereen was affected quite badly during this time, lost a lot of people to disease and death and to emigration. The second display centered on the Lough Hyne, which is Ireland’s first Marine Nature Reserve. The lake is feed by the sea through a small tidal channel, and is home to a rich and varied range of sea life, some quite rare, that can be studied very easily.

We left the center and drove to Baltimore, which is a cute little seaside town. It feels rather “new” though, and nothing for a town center to walk, so we drove over to Lough Hyne and walked along the shore. Lisa gets to feed a swan that is there. Back at the castle, we walked up the road to Mary Ann’s pub for supper. I had the poached salmon, Lisa the goat cheese salad, both were excellent. After supper we drove back to Skibbereen to see about some music. I had written on one of my notes that “Corner Bar – session on Tues.” so we stopped. Needless to say, there was no music there, or anyplace else in town on a Tuesday according to the bartender, sigh. So back to the castle, we made some coffee and went down to the great room to watch a little TV before crashing for the night.

March 21 – Wednesday – After a 9:00 breakfast in the castle, we take on the peninsulas today. Leaving Castletownsend we drive through Skibbereen and on to Ballydehob were we start the Mizen Head peninsula drive. Staying on the south side, we make our way through Skull, Toormore, Goleen and into Crookhaven where we stop for coffee at the O’Sullivan’s Bar. Back to the road, we make our way to Mizen Head signal station and visitor center. The weather is not helping today, it’s very foggy, with misty rain, but we decide to walk out to the signal station anyway. I got some really neat pictures, it is quite a walk out there, you have to cross a bridge over a crevasse to get there. Even with the fog, the view was spectacular, I can imagine what it is like on a clear day! We are not able to see the lighthouse through the fog, it being out a few miles.

We take the north side of the peninsula on the drive back, ending up in Durrus for lunch at the Sheep’s Head pub, hoping for the weather to clear. The drive down the south side of the Sheep’s Head peninsula is still foggy, and as we approach the Sheep’s Head visitor center, we see it is closed. Taking a few pictures we drive back taking the Goat’s Path road this time. I can see why they call it the “Goat’s Path”! You really have to concentrate on your driving skills, all kinds of twists and turns, we climb to the top where there are two postings showing you what you would normally see on a clear day up here. Because of the fog, we can’t see a thing, so we head down the other side. It did clear a little, so I was able to get a few pictures before we hit Bantry which is the end of the Sheep’s Head Way. Nice little town, we explore for a while, and after a coffee, start our drive back to the castle. Supper finds us back in Skibbereen at the Paragon Restaurant on Main St. I try the Scampi, Lisa the goat cheese salad, both are delicious. We stop at Mary Ann’s for a pint before getting back to the castle for a bit of TV and bedtime. The weather didn’t cooperate today, but I would recommend this trip to anyone who wishes to drive it. The scenery was not on the same scale as the Ring of Kerry or the Dingle Peninsula, but you seemed closer to it. Didn’t see any tour busses either!

March 22 – Thursday – Woke to a beautiful clear sky, sunshine filled morning! After yesterday it is really welcome! Anne serves us another fine breakfast, and we explore around the castle grounds. St Barrahane’s church is located on the hill behind the castle, it is still being used today. The graves around it are dated from the early 1800’s, with the newest I saw being 2000.

After checking out and bidding Anne farewell, we start the drive home. A stop at Trag Knitwear nets us a Duiske handmade glass oil lamp. Our next stop is Clonakilty, where we do some exploring of the town. Finally found De Barra’s which has music quite frequently. Pick up a gig guide, maybe we can make it back for some entertainment before we go home to the states. Clonakilty is not that far from Kinsale. We try to take the Clonakilty coastal road back, but miss the turnoff, we did find it on the other end though, so end up backtracking some, through Lislee, up a one lane cow path following a sign to the Coolim Cliffs, which gives us a view of Clonakilty Bay, from Old Head in the east, all the way to Galley Head in the west. Amazing! Lunch finds us at the Grange Tavern, they are remodeling but still put on a great lunch. The biggest bowl of beef stew I have ever seen for 8 euro, delicious. We continue on, finally turning back toward Kinsale and arrive about 4:00.

Unpack the suitcase, Lisa gets some laundry started, salad for supper, and hit the An Seanachai to listen to Liam O’. We drag along 4 other couples we met, Texas, Florida, and Ohio, and Liam puts on a great show. We have a nice talk with him after the show, asking him to let me know if he makes it back to the states, we would like to get him some gigs around our area. Back to the house a little after midnight, we call it a night.

St Patrick's Day in Dripsey, shortest parade in the world

March 17- Saturday – St Patrick’s Day – Wake up at 8:30 to a bright sunny day! Hopefully it will stay this was for a while. The off licenses (liquor stores) in Cork have all agreed to stay closed until 4 pm today, to keep the revelers from getting to early of a start. After breakfast I go to the I-café to post and check email. Get a coffee to take home, and we decide to see if we can find Dripsey, which is reputed to have the shortest St Patrick’s Day Parade in the world. Didn’t take us long to get there, it is in West Cork, not to far from Blarney. As we pull in we see some barricades in front of the two bars there. Asking about the parade, we are told it is scheduled for “half two”, it’s only half twelve now, so we have two hours to kill. The Weigh Inn beckons us so we stop for a pint. The stool next to me is taken up by a local by the name of Jim, I buy him a Murphy’s and we hit it off. He tells us about the area, asks if we are staying for the parade, and reminds us that Ireland vs. Italy is on the TV at 1:30, by which time the pub has filled with people for the Rugby match, and awaiting the parade. Lots of cheering as the Irish team wins by 27 points. At 2:30 I head out to watch the parade, Lisa sits inside and watches it from there. They delay the start as the game isn’t over yet, but about 5 minutes later it is on as the Irish team is quite a bit ahead.

The parade literally goes from one pub to the other, about 75 yards, Lisa is sitting by the bar, just inside the door in the Weigh Inn where everyone has to go by her, so she gets a good view of everything. I am outside, and get to see it all through my video camera, it was quite a sight, with 4-500 people watching, mostly locals. Not the 10s of thousands that are in Cork or the 650,000 reported in Dublin, but I think this one has a lot more character, and we really enjoyed ourselves.

A short stop at the Blarney Woolen Mills on the way home, supper around 7:30, and we head to the An Seanachai for some music tonight. Suppose to be “Trad Routes” again, last time it was Liam and Ger, tonight just Liam, but still a good time. Not as busy as I thought it might be for St Patrick’s Day, but busy enough. The only signs of St Patrick’s Day are a couple girls with green bobble head bands, several of the older folks have on living shamrocks, but most are dressed as usual. I think the weather is getting to me a bit, there is a nasty cold front coming in and my sinuses are killing me, my nose is running constantly. I hope I can shake it soon. The pub closes at 1:00 and we head home for the night.

March 18 – Sunday – I sleep in until 8:30, quick breakfast, out to get a paper. When Lisa is ready to go, we wander down to the Mother Hubbard that has just reopened. After a coffee and scone, it’s home again where I can suffer with my running sinuses in peace. Should be a good day to stay in. Today is also “Mother’s Day” in Ireland. The weather is a bear, gale force winds, lots of clouds, rainy, even though the sun peeks out 2 or 3 times. Ugh.

Leadup to St Patrick's Day

March 14 – Wednesday – Slept in all the way to 7:45, easy morning, labeled pictures, went to I-café to update, light lunch, and off to the Kinsale Golf Club for 9 holes. Nice sunny day, temp about 55 or so, the breeze around the golf course was cool but walking up and down the hills worked up a bit of a sweat. I didn’t shoot very good, rental clubs and I haven’t played in months, but I still enjoyed it. After supper we made our way to the Spaniard, Lisa wants to see if she can join in on the Trad Session. On the way I need to hit the ATM, and the stupid machine ate my card! Something about unauthorized use, I’ll have to go to the Bank of Ireland in the morning and get my card back and clear this up.

At the Spaniard we meet two couples from Chicago, and a couple from Cleveland. It must be USA night. Of course, music is a topic of discussion, and we find out that the guy from Cleveland is a singer songwriter who has traveled on the Rock Boat with Gaelic Storm, his name is Jackson Rohm (www.jacksonrohm.com) traveling with his girlfriend Jennifer Ackerman (I think I caught the last name right) and they are headed to Dublin for St Pat’s. He plays around the Midwest, including Chicago and Michigan. I would like to get him to Grand Rapids.

The Chicago group lives near Downer’s Grove where the Ballydoyle is located, although they don’t follow any of the groups we do, they are aware of the pub. They landed in Dublin and are working their way to Shannon.

The session is a fiddler and box player (accordion) and they play jigs and reels throughout the night. There is no bodhran so Lisa doesn’t get a chance to join in. The pub closes up at midnight so we walk down the hill with Jackson and Jen, he is gracious enough to give me a couple of his CDs, and we call it a night.

March 15 – Thursday – Trash day today, I have to get the container out before 10. The Bank of Ireland opens at 10 so after putting the trash container next to the gate, I try to get my debit card back. The attendant at the bank was able to retrieve it, and thought it might have been a “blink in the system”. So after trying the card once more and having her retrieve it again, I call Fifth Third to see if the problem is on their end. Apparently there was a “breech” somewhere, that affected a list of numbers, so a bunch of Fifth Third costumers had their debit cards replaced with new ones. Seeing as I wasn’t home to get any notification I was unaware of this. I have a new card waiting for me at home, but that doesn’t help much now. I will have to make other arrangements to get cash here now.

Victoria had called and would like to show the house again, she pops by at 3:30 and the prospective tenant is a pilot. I found out that the house is protected by some historical order, so it must be quite old. It was part of the St Multose school/church system, the Rectory is just down the road a bit. Maybe I can find out more from Peter, he was the owner before Bruce, and Peter is due back from holiday soon.

Some observations while I’m rambling.

· There are a lot more people in town this week, the tourist season is starting, and the street in front of the house has a lot more gawkers.

· The weather also turned this week, since the rain on Sunday it hasn’t really rained much, just a sprinkle now and then. A lot more sun, and the temps are better, daytime is a light jacket, a little cooler at night.

· We haven’t seen much for a lead up to St Pat’s day here, and we’re not sure what will be happening around town yet.

· If you come here, when you fly over buy the phone card that they sell on the plane, it makes it very cheap to call the states. About 10 cents a minute, my cell phone costs me about $2.50 a minute! Quite a difference!

· Pop is expensive, even in the stores you pay 2-3 euro for a 2 liter bottle, and you pay 2 euro for a 8 ounce bottle in the pubs. Guinness averages 3.60 euro a pint, Murphy the same and Beamish 40 cents cheaper. Smithwicks is 4 euro. Drinking isn’t cheap. Lisa’s wine runs 5 euro for a quarter bottle for a chardonnay.

· Food prices in the grocery store are a little higher than we are used to, but not bad. Our meals at home really save us a lot, and the butchers have high quality cuts of meat. Example, tonight I picked up two pork chops with a Peking coating for 3.15 euro, added potato and veggies and had a great supper.

· If you pay attention, you can eat for a reasonable price. 7-10 euro for a good meal. Otherwise a good meal can run 15-30 euro real quick.

· Coffee is served “black or white”, with or without cream. And most of it is a long pull espresso. Some very good, some not. Most of the cappuccinos that I have had were good.

· “Are you okay?” said quizzically actually means “Can I help you” not “are you nuts or something?” many of the store clerks or hostesses will ask you this.

· People feel quite safe walking around any time of the day or night, but everyone is fanatical about having a burglar alarm. I guess property crime is much more prevalent that assaults.

· The TV and radio here is stuck in the 80’s and 90’s. Most of the shows seem to be old, very few new. That includes the BBC channels as well as the RTE Irish channels. There is some new stuff but not much, a few American shows like Cold Case and Law and Order episodes, and Heroes was just starting Season one, but these are few and far between. There are 6 or 7 soaps, and they play at all hours of the day and night.

· The locals have a strange way of looking at you like they are very skeptical about you or your appearance, a “don’t talk to me” or “what the heck are you up too?” look, but once you say hi, or start talking to them they end up being very friendly.

· An example of the rising house prices – the lady behind the counter at the golf club is from Scotland, she said she purchased her home 11 years ago for 72,000, and was recently offered 570,000. She wouldn’t sell though, because it would be so expensive to get another. Ireland has a lot of millionaires on paper because of the real estate boom.

· You end up with lots of change in your pocket over here, the smallest bill they have is a 5, and the change is made up of 1 and 2 euro coins, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1 cent pieces.

After supper we make our way to Hamlets, it is a pub attached to the Blue Haven hotel, and would be much more at home in the states than here. All new, lots of chrome, no character to it, even has a champagne room that feels artificial. Michael (from the Spaniard on Monday) was singing, called it the “Folk Sessions”. We like his music and voice, it just doesn’t fit with the atmosphere, so we make our way back to the An Seanachai to listen to Liam O’ to finish off the night. Home about midnight.

March 16 – Friday – Victoria mentioned that the house was set up for broadband and that she had a extra broadband box that I could try, so I picked it up at her office and took it home. Unfortunately it won’t connect, it doesn’t pick up the DSL signal, so I don’t really think it’s turned on. The weather is overcast but dry, so we hop in the car for a joy ride. End up going to Innishannon and found a painting gallery that we walked through, not real large, but some nice stuff. Stop by the “Found Out” Café for coffee and one of the best slices of lemon meringue pie that I’ve had in a long time. The next stop is Bandon, we walk around St Peter’s looking at all the old gravestones, some date back to the late 1700’s. After a brief walk through town, we head home to make dinner.

Entertainment tonight is at Muddy Maher’s, we listen to Seanjohn again. It’s amazing over here, the band is scheduled for 10:30, we get there at 9:45 and the place is lightly occupied. At 10:45 the band finally starts, and the party goers start arriving about 11:00. From then until 1:00, you can walk through the place it’s so jammed! The music was all covers, from the 80’s and 90’s again, and everyone knew the songs, lots of singing and dancing. We meet two guys from England who are here for the weekend, Sam is originally from Australia, and Gerald is from New Zealand, but they now work together in England. We stayed til the bitter end, getting home about 1:15.

We travel to the Ring of Kerry

March 13 – Tuesday – Today we are driving to the Ring of Kerry, we leave the house about 9:00 and it’s a sunny morning. The drive takes us 2 hours to get to Killarney. Lisa has been looking through the maps and brochures we have and has selected a few likely spots to stop at. The first is called Ballymalis Castle, located halfway between Killarney and Killorglin. I almost miss the sign for the castle, but we turn off on a paved one lane track that leads back into the fields. The castle isn’t too far off the main drag, but when you get to the end of the drive, there is no way to get to the castle, it’s all fenced off, I got a couple pictures and we go back to the N 72 and on to the Ring. It’s 11:30 and raining when we hit Killorglin where we stop to stretch our legs and get a quick coffee and pastry. Killorglin is known for it’s mid August festival called “Puck Fair” where they capture a wild goat and crown it king of the festival. The sun is making another appearance making the drive much more enjoyable, but there is still a lot of mist and fog off in the distance.

Heeding the advice I have read, we decide to drive the Ring counterclockwise, this gives the best view and the tour busses travel this direction so you won’t meet any busses coming at you on the narrow roads. As we head out to circle the Iveragh peninsula we see the Dingle Bay to our right, and peat piles drying in the sun to our left. We pass the bogs where they collect the peat, and we can see Carrantouhill, the tallest mountain in Ireland. The curvy road follows the coastline, we would meet a few cars coming from the other direction so you had to take care. But the scenery was beautiful, driving on the side of the mountains, waves crashing on the rocks, sheep eating on the ledges, houses popping up where you wouldn’t think anyone could live. Just Grand!

Having read about Pat’s Crafts near Cahersiveen we stop there. “Not open yet” we are told at the gas station next door, so a quick potty break and on the road to Cahersiveen where we stop at the Barracks. This former home of the Royal Irish Constabulary is now a heritage center which we tour through. The Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church is also in town, but going through a restoration so we took a picture on the way by and continued on.

With plenty of time today, we decide to take the Skellig Ring, a route which takes you out to Portmagee with a bridge to Valentia a small island about 7 miles long and one of Europe’s most westerly points. On the island we went through the Skellig Experience which tells of the history of the Skelligs, two small islands that were inhabited by monks 1500 years ago. Back on the road, the Skellig ring rejoins the Ring of Kerry just before Waterville. We continue on around, find a sign for the Staigue Fort and drive back about 3 miles through a one lane road until we get to the Fort, which ends up being a stone ring about 6-12 feet high and 200 feet across, dated back to 1000 BC. Our next stop is a small restaurant in Sneem called the Village Kitchen, its almost 5 and we are both hungry. I have the steamed salmon, Lisa the goat cheese ficcotia, just delicious. The road from here to Kenmare finishes off the Ring of Kerry, and we take the R569 out of Kenmare back to the N22 and head back home, stopping long enough in Belgooly to have a pint at the Huntsman. A long day, its 9:30 when we get home, but not done for me yet, at 10:15 there is a show on RTE 1 about Donal Lunny, guitar player from Planxty among other accomplishments. Bedtime about 11:30.

Irish Karaoke and we drive to Cobh

March 11 – Sunday – Slept in until 8:30, I made myself a nice Irish breakfast, walked to the Rose Abbey grocer for the Sunday paper, and we walked down to Acton’s hotel to listen to the Cork City Jazz Band. Made it home about 3:20 and after a apple for lunch, I walked to the bus stop to catch a ride to Cork Airport to pick up the car. Got a Modus, never heard of that, it’s a manual transmission, which came back to me right away, even with the shifter in my left hand. After a late supper we watch a TG4 program called Ardan, a one hour talk show. TG4 is the all Irish channel here, and that means they use the Irish language! At least they used English subtitles for us.

The show included the Elders along with several other musicians and other guests. The Elders played “Moore Street Girls” to open the show, and closed it with “Racing the Tide”. I wanted to get someone around here to tape it for me, but VHS and DVD recorders are not widely used with the people I spoke to. So I resorted to the old fashioned method, I used my camcorder to video the TV, crude but effective. The show was recorded last Sunday in Dublin and it was fun watching the boys play again. I saw Ian’s mom and sister in the audience, I didn’t recognize anyone else, although the host mentioned the crowd was from Kansas.

After the show we walked to the Armada, Lisa wanted to listen to the “Two Johns”. After listening to one song we decided to move on, not our cup of tea, and not very good to boot. Making our way back to the Lord Kinsale we found Kevin playing again, so we stayed for a while. A couple songs later Kevin invited the locals to come up and sing again. I can only describe it as “Irish karaoke”. From the inebriated to the talented, it was quite a show. John and the boys from Wales were there enjoying the singing, they leave for home at 6:00 am tomorrow morning, and Tom from Milwaukee, a retired middle school principal who sang a “miner” song that I never heard before. But the capper of the evening was a 25-30 year old local who sang “You Will Never Walk Alone”, he had a nice voice, and the entire crowd joined in with singing and dancing! Not something I would ever think to see in a Irish pub! Great craic!

March 12 – Monday – Very sunny morning, we decide to drive to Cobh and visit the Heritage Center. Taking the road through Scilly and down by the Bulman, then up the hill and stop at the lookout to take some pictures of Kinsale from across the harbor. While I am taking photos, a tour bus stops and wants to park where I am, so we move the car and let them in. I ask the driver if he know Jim Powers (Chip) who the driver for Bus #3 in 2002, he said Jim was a good friend of his. When I asked what happened, he said Jim had his motorcycle stored in Killarney during the tour season, and was taking it back home when he lost it on a curve. No one else was involved. I had heard this from Mike Cleveland and wanted to see what I could find out. The driver said that Jim used to drive for Brendan Tours.

We continued on to the Heritage center, nice place, interesting exhibits, but not something I would do again. Leaving there we went back to Midleton to walk the town center and have a toasted special for lunch. This is the first day we can walk around in our shirtsleeves! Wonderful! This is what we have been waiting for since we got here. On the way home we swung through Grange and picked up a few things at the Aldi there. Got pizza for supper, and I plan on going to the I-café after to update the pictures and blog.